1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic cash register, and more particularly, to an electronic cash register including three printing stations (hereinafter referred to as a three-station printer), whereby different papers are separately printed for their own purpose; one is as a receipt for customers, a second is as a journal for the seller, and a third is as a guest check (hereinafter referred to as a slip). More specifically, the present invention is concerned with the slip printing station adapted for use in an electronic cash register, wherein the slip printer station is located separately from the other two printing stations to ensure practical and physiological convenience for the operator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A three-station printer cash register per se is known and in wide use; two examples are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The cash register illustrated in FIG. 1 has a three-station printer in the left-hand section of the cabinet 1, wherein the printer is provided with a slit 2 through which a slip paper is inserted. In the slit 2 a slip tray 3 is provided to support the slip, wherein a greater part of the slip tray protrudes beyond the cabinet 1 as shown in FIG. 1. The slip paper is fed from the front of the cash register toward the back thereof, during which it is printed. The cabinet 1 has a mark 4 on its left side to indicate a line at which the printing starts. However, this location is inconvenient for the operator, because he must bend his head leftward to align the mark with the desired starting-line. In addition, the operator must insert the slip paper with his left hand. Such physical posture leans to physiological discomfort for the operator. It is also disadvantageous that the cash register requires an extra space for admitting of the protrusion of the slip tray 3.
Another example is illustrated in FIG. 2, in which a two-station printer 6 is mounted in the left-hand section of the cash register while a slip printer 7 is mounted in the right-hand section on the cabinet 10, thereby constituting a three-station cash register as a whole. In this example the slip paper is likewise fed from the front of the cash register toward the back thereof. This latter type of cash register is known as Model 327 manufactured by Data Terminal System Inc. of Massachusetts, U.S.A. As shown in FIG. 2, the top surface of the cabinet 10 is rectangular with a relatively long width and a relatively short depth. The slip tray 8 must be placed in a limited area on the cabinet, and according its length is necessarily shortened in comparison with the width of the cash register. In addition, its extension frontward is not allowable because of a possible hindrance for the operator, nor is its extension backward allowable unless an additional space is provided in the back of the cash register. The mark 11 is also provided on the left side of the printer 7, thereby causing the same inconvenience for the operator. In addition, owning to the shortened slip tray, the slip paper is likely to droop down as shown in FIG. 2, which requires the operator to support it by hand. Likewise, when the printing is finished, the operator also must hold the slip paper from slipping off the cash register. This is troublesome for the operator.
In general, office machines, such as a typewriter with a reader puncher, have such a construction as to feed a tape or card perpendicularly to the operator, and this is no exception to known conventional cash registers.
The present invention is directed toward solving the inconvenience and disadvantages pointed out above, and has for its object to provide an improved three-station electronic cash register in which the slip paper is fed in parallel with the operator's breast who stands in front of the cash register.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved three-station electronic cash register in which a slip paper can be inserted and taken out by a normal, easy action of arms, that is, in the operator's natural posture.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved three-station electronic cash register occupying as small an installation space as the conventional two-station cash register.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved three-station electronic cash register which can be used in a poor lit room without the use of a special light.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings.